Regions of the Thirteen Colonies/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: "The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby." A boy, Tim, and his robot, Moby, are visiting the House of Burgesses. Tim wears a colonial outfit and reads from a tourist brochure. Moby is paying more attention to his phone than to the historic monument. Tim looks over and notices that Moby's writing a Yawp review. The review has one-star and says, "Wish I could give 0 stars!! No burgesses to be found on the menu… in fact, no menu!" TIM: You thought the House of Burgesses was a restaurant? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, that's no reason to give them a bad Yawp review! This was the first legislature in the Thirteen Colonies! Moby gives Tim a blank look. MOBY: Beep. Moby returns to writing his review. Tim sighs and reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, our teacher says we're going to study the regions of the 13 colonies. Why were they divided up like that? From, Mia and Phoebe. Hey, there! Historians talk about the American colonies in terms of three regions. An animation shows a map of the original 13 colonies. TIM: The New England Colonies, which included Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island… The New England Colonies light up. Their names appear on the map. TIM: The Middle Colonies, made up of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware… The Middle Colonies light up. Their names appear on the map. TIM: And the Southern Colonies of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The New England Colonies light up. Their names appear on the map. TIM: In reality, the colonies weren't actually divided up into regions. The colony borders disappear from the map. TIM: It's just an idea that was invented to help us understand what life was like back then. The animation shows someone reading a book about the 13 colonies. Her thought bubble shows the map of the colonies divided into three regions. TIM: The colonies in each region shared certain things in common: similar climates, economies, cultures, and populations. An animation shows a map of the New England Colonies. Icons that represent their shared traits appear. TIM: So, instead of trying to remember stuff about 13 different places, we can simplify it to three. MOBY: Beep? TIM: A colony is a territory that a country controls outside its own borders. The country is enriched by the land and other resources of the colony. An animation shows a map of the countries along Atlantic Ocean. Virginia and England are both marked on the map. A boat sails across the ocean from Virginia to England. TIM: That's what England was thinking when it sent colonists to America. It staked its first claim way back in 1607, in Jamestown, Virginia. An animation shows the King of England looking at a map. He places a British flag where Jamestown is located. TIM: Of course, Native people had already been living there for thousands of years. But that didn't stop England from laying claim to the land. An animation shows the British flag flying over a Native American town. The Native Americans look up at the flag and frown. TIM: In a little over a century, they'd spread out to 12 other territories up and down the East Coast. MOBY: Beep? TIM: No, Native Americans didn't just give up their land without a fight. But a couple of factors tipped the odds in England's favor. An animation shows the eastern part of North America. Small figures of people represent where Native Americans lived. Three ships arrive at the coast. TIM: For one, colonists carried diseases that Native people had no resistance to. Within a few decades, most of them died, leaving few to fight against the invaders. A cloud of disease emerges from the ships. The cloud moves across the continent. Most of the Native American figures die as the cloud passes through. TIM: The English also had guns and other advanced military technology. Icons of muskets, swords, and cannons appear on each ship. TIM: By the mid-1600s, they were doing big business up and down the coast. And from the start, that business depended on geography. The Southern Colonies had a warm climate, flat land, and rich soil. So, commercial farming ruled—they grew cash crops: produce grown specifically to be sold for profit. An animation shows a map of the Southern Colonies. An inset bubble depicts a successful farm in South Carolina. TIM: Tobacco filled the fields of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina. Tobacco icons appears in these three states. TIM: In the swampy land of South Carolina and Georgia, they grew rice and indigo, a valuable fabric dye. An animation shows enslaved people working in a rice field. They harvest rice in swampy water that goes up to their knees. TIM: The Lower South was marked by massive farms called plantations. These operations were like little towns—with houses, work buildings, shops, churches, and roads. An animation shows a southern plantation. Many enslaved people gather crops in the field. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yeah, growing cash crops required a ton of laborers. And working the fields was brutal—people weren't exactly lining up for these jobs. Plantation owners turned to slavery, which quickly spread across the South. An animation shows an enslaved man harvesting rice. He sweats in the blistering heat. TIM: People were captured in warfare in West Africa, then sold in slave markets. A thought bubble appears above the man's head. It shows the man's ancestors from West Africa. The West Africans stand on an auction stage with their hands bound together. TIM: Then they were shipped across the Atlantic, packed like cargo below decks. The thought bubble shows the captives being loaded onto a ship and packed into a small storage area. TIM: For the rest of their lives, they labored under grueling conditions. Any children they had were born into a life of slavery, too. The man's thought bubble disappears. He returns to work. His son works alongside him. TIM: By the mid-1700s, nearly half the population in the South was enslaved. This giant, free workforce made a handful of Southern planters incredibly rich. An animation shows a well-dressed plantation owner standing on his porch. He watches the enslaved people labor in his fields. TIM: They became a powerful class, running local politics and the church. An enslaved woman holds a drink for the plantation owner. A priest joins the plantation owner on his porch. TIM: But even small-time farmers who worked their own fields used slave labor if they could afford it. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Right, slavery wasn't as widespread up North. The New England Colonies were founded as religious communities. So, many of its settlers viewed slavery as immoral. An animation shows a map of the New England Colonies. Icons of villages with churches appear on the map. TIM: But there was also a more practical reason: The North's cold climate and rocky soil weren't ideal for large plantations. Most people made their livings on family farms—feeding themselves on the produce, and selling off anything extra. An animation shows a farm in the New England Colonies. Rocks cover part of the ground. One woman guides a cow through a field. One man carries hay down the road in a wheelbarrow. TIM: Others sought their fortune on the sea: Fishing and whaling industries took off. An animation shows two boats sailing in the ocean. Some men cast their nets into the water. Others count the fish from a previous catch. TIM: Along with shipbuilding, made with lumber from the area's dense forests. An animation shows large ships off the coast of the New England Colonies. TIM: Unlike in the rural South, New Englanders lived close together, in villages. Each village had a meetinghouse, where everyone attended church. An animation shows a New England village. Neighbors walk to church together. TIM: They set up public schools, so every kid could learn to read the Bible. An animation shows students reading the Bible at school. TIM: Village councils imposed all kinds of rules to create a society that was pure in the eyes of God. An animation shows villagers gathered around a poster that reads, "Village Rules." The rules all start with the word, "No." TIM: Like on Sundays, you couldn't work, do chores, or hang out with friends. Icons that represent each rule appear. TIM: Rhode Island was one exception: Their government and church were separate, and people of all faiths were welcomed. An animation shows a sign that reads, "Welcome to Rhode Island." It's decorated with symbols from different religions. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Actually, that kind of tolerance was much more common in the Middle Colonies. Much of the region started off as the Dutch colony of New Netherland. An animation shows a map of the Middle Colonies. The map highlights the New Netherland region. TIM: It was a commercial outpost, focused on the fur trade. Beavers appear all over the map. TIM: The mother country, the Netherlands, was a thriving, stable nation. Not many people were eager to pick up and start new lives an ocean away. An animation shows a map of Europe. The Netherlands is labeled. Ships from many European countries sail to the colonies. No ships sail from the Netherlands. TIM: So, the Dutch recruited settlers from all over Europe. An animation shows the map of New Netherland. Many signs appear in the region. The signs say, "For Rent." TIM: That's how New Netherland ended up with Germans, Swedes, Scots, Irish, and French settlers. Unlike the other regions, where almost all the settlers were British. The ships arrive in the Middle Colonies. Their sails bear the flags of the countries that Tim mentions. TIM: In the capital of New Amsterdam, as many as 18 languages were spoken! An animation shows the capital city. A flag waves that says, "New Amsterdam." Speech bubbles appear that say, "Hello!" in many different languages. TIM: When England took over and renamed the colony New York, the diversity remained. The name on the flag changes from "New Amsterdam" to "New York." The speech bubbles stay the same. TIM: Over in Pennsylvania, tolerance for different religions and backgrounds was a core value. It was founded by the Quakers, a Christian group who accepted everyone as equals. An animation shows several Pennsylvania Quakers holding a sign that says, "Welcome to Pennsylvania." MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yep, the economy of the Middle Colonies depended a lot on its location, uh, in the middle. It enjoyed the best of both neighboring regions: success in farming, like the South, and industry, like the North. The fertile soil was perfect for planting grains, mostly on small plots of land. An animation shows two images of the Middle Colonies. One image shows people working in a farm field. The other image shows several factory buildings. TIM: Milling that grain became big business, too—the Middle Colonies even got the nickname "the breadbasket." The port cities of New York and Philadelphia grew into huge trade hubs. An animation shows a busy port city. There are many ships and people. Cranes lift large crates onto ships. Horses pull carts with bags of grain through the street. TIM: With a little luck and hard work, poor immigrants could make their fortunes in those places. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Yeah, immigrants still come to those places for the exact same reason! And some of the regional differences that began back then persist to this day: Like, Southern states still have tons of rural land… An animation shows a map of the United States. Farmhouse icons appear on the Southern states. TIM: While states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are more urban. Skyscraper and building icons appear on the map in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. TIM: Traveling between these places can feel like you're visiting different countries. Even though they're all a part of the United States. The colors of the American flag appear in the background of the map. TIM: But back then, the colonies weren't yet states, and they definitely weren't united. An animation shows a map with only the original colonies. TIM: Most people hardly ever left the place they were born. Fences appear along the borders of the colonies. TIM: So they didn't think of themselves as American colonists: They were Virginians, New Yorkers, Massachuss... ians. State flags appear in each of the colonies. TIM: It's hard to believe they ever managed to band together and break free from England. MOBY: Beep! An animation shows Moby pointing to a sign that reads, "IHOB: International House of Burgesses." TIM: Well, whaddaya know! Tim and Moby sit in a diner-style booth. A reenactor takes their order. TIM: Um… one double cheeseburgess with fries, please. And, can you tell me what's in the Bacon's Rebellion? Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts